Tag Archive - Faith

Wayfaring Strangers

November 12, 2009 in Church with 5 Comments

IMG00062It was the first time I’d ever invited someone I didn’t know into my home to stay the night. In the past, I would never have done such a thing. Too foolish. Way too foolish in my book. But one day, a homeless man walking from Oklahoma to Fort Worth and I crossed paths that forever changed me. Not long thereafter, I found my mind centering and redirecting itself, seemingly all of the time mind you, on Hebrews 13:2. For whatever reason, I haven’t been the same since. I’ve got no desire whatsoever to stereotype people anymore. In the end, I believe it to be the working of God in my life in one of the most concrete ways I’ve ever experienced. It’s God’s gift.

So when I got an email from Jon Riddle, a brother in Dimmit, TX whom I’ve never met, only spoken to on the phone once, informing me of a young man named Colin Morrison who was walking, yes, walking from Maine to California, I was instantly intrigued. I was told he would be arriving in Clovis on Wednesday afternoon. Sure enough, at 3 pm he walked into the church building. He was greeted by our secretary. Curious, I believe she asked, “Can we help you?” Colin’s response, if my memory is correct, was, “I’m looking for the preacher. I forgot his name though.”

My door was open, so I could see Delores speaking with someone in our greeting area outside the offices. I assumed it was Colin, so I walked out to meet him. We went back to my office, and though wearied from his journey, he told me what he was doing. In May, Colin hopped a bus from Ohio, where he grew up, to Portland, Maine. He left Portland and began walking. On October 28th, he was with me in Clovis, NM.

He stayed the night with us that Wednesday night. He had dinner with us. He went to bible class with us as well.

There’s an amazing aspect to this story that is particularly fitting here. Colin has coordinated his travels so that he is always in a town on Sundays and Wednesdays. He has missed worship services with a local Church of Christ only three times since he began walking, and that wasn’t because he didn’t get to a congregation. He was there, but the congregation, for whatever reason, wasn’t gathering. But he was still there. That’s impressive!

My kids loved Colin. He played Wii with them. He wrestled with Reese. It was like he was family. But wait a minute, he actually was. He was a brother in Christ, doing an unbelievable thing, all because he could. The next day, we had a great lunch together at Fat Boys BBQ. He spent time with me at the office, as he mapped out his journey through the rest of New Mexico. Tisha’s family was coming in that Thursday to spend the weekend with us, so we put Colin in a local hotel room for Thursday evening. The next morning, he resumed his adventure.

Colin has been chronicling his adventure on his blog. I encourage you to read about him. Post a comment to encourage him. Colin is an amazing young man, and my family was fortunate to be able to meet him. Most importantly, it was a wonderful opportunity for us to be able to live out Hebrews 13:2.

Colin, you are in our prayers my friend. Thank you for gracing us with your presence.

He’s Behind Every Door

September 30, 2009 in Christian Life, Faith with 4 Comments

The dream goes something like this…

I’m standing in front of four doors. Only one is the correct door that will lead me to the place I need to go. The other three open into a deep, dark chasm, a lot like Tolkien’s Khazad-dum. I’ve only got one opportunity, and there’s a 75% chance of picking the wrong door. There’s no peeking either. Once I open it, I’m thrust through the doorway, either plunging headlong into darkness or into whatever place or situation is right.

This is a dream I tend to have when I find myself in my own “valley of decision”  (Joel 3:14). It’s terribly frustrating, because in the end I’m often left with more questions about what’s before me. Invariably, I cannot escape the desire to constantly doubt. What if I make the wrong decision?

Last week, having lunch with friend, I was reminded that regardless of our choices, God is behind every door. It’s true. God can make good of whatever decision I make. The list of biblical figures who prove this is too great!

Before us all are a myriad of choices. Some impact us less than others. But everyday we make them nonetheless. Some days we’ve got big choices to make. Do you leave a job for another? Do you move your family across the globe to become a missionary? Big and small, the choices are always before us. We pray asking for guidance so that we don’t make the wrong decision. Is there really a wrong decision to me made?

Naturally, and it pains me to have to qualify this but I know how some think, I’m not talking about decisions that involve sin. We shouldn’t choose that door anyhow. Even if we do, though, God can rescue us.

So my point is…God isn’t just behind one door, hoping we make the right decision. He’s behind every door, waiting, regardless of the choice, to turn into something whereby he is glorified. “And we know that for whose who love God, all things work together for the good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

God finds ways to work things out for us! For those of you who are confronted with doors to open, but you are uncertain as to which one is the right one…trust in the One who redeemed you and He’ll be behind whichever door you choose.

Moving Forward

July 14, 2009 in Christian Life, Evangelism, Faith with 1 Comment

It’s time to move forward. As God told Moses and the Israelites at Horeb, “You have stayed at this mountain long enough. Resume your journey…” (Deuteronomy 1:6-7, HCSB), so also is it time to move on and away from what’s gone on here for the last several days.

This morning I was reading through Acts 6 and I was struck by the life of Stephen. He was one of the “seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom” selected to tend to the Grecian widows who’d been neglected in the daily distribution. He was also described as “full of faith” (v. 5). Still later, we read of Stephen as “full of grace and power…performing great wonders and signs among the people” (v. 8). He met formidable opposition from those of the Freedman’s Synagogue, but “they were not able to stand up against the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke” (v. 10). Ultimately, his history lesson of Israel’s rejections of God’s prophets over the years, which culminated in the rejection of the Messiah, got him killed. But what a compelling argument he was for the faith of Christ!

The guy chosen to “wait on tables” (v. 2) apparently had much more to offer. And he did. Inside of him was a heart for souls. His ministry was about meeting the needs of others. If by food distribution, so be it. He offered food that met physical needs, but he was also willing to serve food “that lasts for eternal life” (John 6:27).

Service, in whatever form, is mighty ministry. Jesus boldly proclaimed the “living word” with passion and urgency; yet, washing his disciples’s feet was no less ministry, and no less significant.

Like Jesus, Stephen wasn’t a one talent man. His selection for a specific work didn’t mean he wasn’t fit for anything else. In a sense, I think it helped groom him for more. Unfortunately, it seems to have been a life cut short, but like others who have gone on before, “though he is dead, he still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4).

A Letter to the Gappas

May 19, 2009 in Letters with 4 Comments

Tisha, Sam and Doug

Context

In late 2004 or early 2005, Tisha had heard through her sister Tara Matson about a Dallas couple, Jon and Tami Gappa, who discovered their infant son Sam had been diagnosed with cancer. The end result of a surgery to remove the tumor was that his kidneys would never regain function. For the next three-plus years, little Sam would be dialysis dependent.

Naturally, a kidney transplant was essential. When pursuing “living donors,” the Gappas soon discovered that due to blood issues neither of them were viable donor options. Tisha’s sister sent out an email to friends in her address book inquiring as to whether or not they would be interested in testing to see if they might be a viable match. I remember Tisha asking me if I cared if she was tested. Thinking nothing about it, I said “Sure.” We weren’t related to the family in any way. We didn’t even know them. The odds definitely weren’t in her favor.

Matches for kidney transplants are based on a series of six markers. Normally, a good parental match will have three of six markers. According to the test results, Tisha had four of six markers. Tisha was by far the best candidate and now things were getting serious. Very serious.

Naturally, there was some hesitancy. Amazingly enough, it wasn’t so much about the health concerns on Tisha’s part as it was about things like ramifications on health and life insurances. How would one less kidney affect our ability to possibly change health insurance or lock in another 20-year term life policy? These were our concerns. But when we thought about it, we realized that they weren’t things that ultimately mattered when compared with what the Gappas had to lose. We thought about what it would be like if we lost Reese, who is the same age as Sam. Tisha was convinced that we must move forward with the process.

There were two other significant concerns as well. We worried about how the possible rejection of Tisha’s kidney by Sam might affect us. It was beyond our control, but it nevertheless was a feeling that we considered grave. But the feeling that would come over us, should Tisha back out, was much worse.

The other concern was what others were thinking about what Tisha was doing. Tisha had a husband and three kids, and there were more than a few who let us know that they thought the transplant was unwise. That was painful. Thankfully, faith got us both through, but we were still concerned about what people were suggesting.

It took a while for things to develop, but finally a surgery was planned for April of 2007 at Lucille Packard in Palo Alto, CA. Two weeks before the transplant, though, it was called off due to concerns about recurring cancer in Sam. Later in early 2008, Sam would endure another surgery to resolve the cancer predicament. He recovered quickly and in August of 2008, we all flew to California where Tisha gave one of her kidneys to 4 year-old, Sam Gappa.

Both recovered quickly. Tisha was out of the hospital in four days. Sam actually came home from California about a month earlier than he was supposed to. To this day, both are doing extremely well. Sam is growing and doing things that before he wasn’t allowed to do.

Jon Gappa preserves the whole story, from September of 2004 through March of 2009, in an online journal at http://www.caringbridge.org/tx/samgappa/history.htm.

Dear Sam, Jon and Tami,

Of late, I’ve been writing letters once a week to those who mean the most to me. I don’t even know if you guys read my blog, but all of them thus far are there. From the beginning, my intentions were to save my last two letters for you guys and Tisha. This is my second to the last letter, my letter to you.

First, We love you more than words can describe. You aren’t just friends to us, you are family. The joys you’ve brought to our lives have no corresponding words. Awe, in so many forms, is all that can be produced.

Second, I believe the kind of hell you’ve been through for the last five years would ruin an average family. I’ve grown to discover that experiences, many of which are less taxing than yours has been, do often deconstruct the family unit. I’ve actually seen homes crumble due to much less than what you guys have gone through. But you’ve all been amazingly and immensely resilient. You’ve got courage unlike any three people I’ve ever met.

Third, to a great extent, through you, we’ve found ourselves. Tisha now knows how much faith she has in God. As I know you’ve come to believe, her part in Sam’s story was a faith thing. In the past, we believed that faith was just a “head thing,” all the while knowing that’s its much more than that. Faith is lived out through action that reflects the nature of one’s faith (James 2). She believes that giving up her kidney for Sam was her way of doing her part in God’s kingdom.

You see, we believe in discipleship (Matthew 28:18-20), and discipleship is about doing what the Messiah did. His gravest concern was for others. Ultimately, he gave his life so that we wouldn’t have to.

We aren’t perfect and we are still learning, but fortunately discipleship is an ongoing process. To Tisha, if he could lay down his life, she could part with a kidney. Her conviction was that God would see her through it. And he did.

Our families will never be the same. Nor should they be. Please tell “Little Genius” that “Uncle Dough Dough” is stronger today because of him. I hope that because of the influence you’ve had on me, that I too am becoming a much better father. We love you and always will!

Doug

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